Combined B.S. & Graduate Degree in Bioinformatics
Program Requirements
Because our bioinformatics B.S. program provides excellent preparation for a graduate program in bioinformatics, we offer a combined program that allows our B.S. students to complete the M.S. (or Ph.D.) somewhat sooner than students with a less tailored preparation.
The current B.S. and graduate requirements have four courses in common:
- BME 80G, Bioethics in the 21st Century, or PHIL 145/245, Brave New World: Ethical Issues in Genetics
- BME 100+L, Introduction to Bioinformatics + Laboratory
- BME 220, Protein Bioinformatics, or BME 230, Computational Genomics
- AMS 206, Bayesian Statistics
M.S. students take nine courses plus two seminars (4 credits), BME 200, and two independent project courses (such as BME 220L and BME 230L). The course work for Ph.D. students is essentially the same, except that 8 credits of seminars are required and three laboratory rotations are required in place of the two project courses.
The combined B.S./graduate program does not make any changes to the undergraduate program, except that students must pass the four overlapping courses listed above with a grade of B- or better.
The requirements at the graduate level are changed to remove the four courses that overlap with the B.S. requirements and to add two graduate-level electives to be chosen by the students with the approval of their advisors. Thus, the total number of courses required is reduced from nine to seven.
To apply for the combined program, students apply to the M.S. or Ph.D. program through the normal graduate admission process in the fall of the senior year. Students who are admitted into the graduate program are automatically included in the combined B.S./M.S. or B.S./Ph.D. program.